Whether you are a native English speaker or speak English as a second language, gone are the days where just being able to speak English is enough. Employers are now looking for, and giving preference to, employees with excellent English writing skills.

The reality of the business world today is that most jobs require you to work globally, not just nationally. You may live in Chile but your client base may be from the United States, Thailand, France or Russia. To be able to communicate efficiently with such a diverse client base, it is only logical there be a common business language, and English it that common language.

Furthermore, in today’s technological society, clients expect any verbal communication to be followed up with a written summary or proposal in English.

Great English is a Necessity for Foreign Employers

As the owner of English Action Institute in Santiago de Chile, I can tell you that just speaking English is not enough. In the last nine years, our business has tripled because of this. Each day we work with more than 100 students whose companies hired us to teach them the English demanded to become productive employees who can help move their company to the next level.

If You Have Excellent English Skills, You are in Demand

Internationally, companies are spending millions to teach their employees the intricacies of speaking English. Being as fluent in English as possible allows them to adapt the language to the needs of the business at hand, and this is what multi-national corporations need.

Here in Chile it can cost companies hundreds to thousands of dollars a month to teach English to just one student. If multiplied by twelve months; then multiplied by 10, 20, 30, 40 or more employees yearly, it is understandable why employees who do not have a good command of English do not get hired. They are not good investments.

Master English – Get Hired Over the Skilled Candidate

Nearly every week I hear from employers who are hiring people who have strong English speaking, listening, and writing skills over those who do not. This is regardless of whether the non-English fluent candidate is specifically trained for the position.

The business world expects to train employees as things change and new strategies are created. It does not expect to have to train employees in what are now basic skills for hiring: speaking and writing clearly in English. Teaching someone a second language is costly and time consuming. With no prior knowledge base, acquiring the language is not like learning a new technology skill to add to what you can already do. It follows that it is just more cost effective to hire capable English speaker and writer than it is to hire someone, even if he or she has a four-year degree or even a Master’s degree.

Why Good Language Skills Matter Even for Native English Employees

A friend of mine from the US recently shared a story with me about a program coordinator in an urban school district. She received an invitation from IBM to come and talk about the skills employees needed to be hired and to be successful. Three recent hires also attended the meeting. Each was a college graduate from the top of his or her class, and each was in training to learn better communication skills, even though English was their first language. Though college graduates, well versed in their discipline, not one had the strong, Basic English skills needed to be productive within the company. Frustrated, the IBM manager shared that the biggest part of his budget was for retraining new hires so they could communicate with the client base.

According to Forbes, English will maintain and grow its dominance becoming a basic skill required for application to any job. When working with such a diverse, global client base, speaking a common language assures the information is communicated clearly and efficiently.

Summary

English is the official language of the global business world, and employers want to hire people who have a solid skill base in it. If your English skills are weak, performance suffers, communication becomes unreliable, and efficiency wanes. So, to get a job and keep the job, you need to learn English and learn it well.

About the Author: Donald Carter has been the co-director and co-owner of English Action Institute in Santiago, Chile since 2009. With more than 30 teachers English Action is a leader in teaching Business English in Chile.

Life is always filled with tragedies. Someone close to you will pass away leaving behind memories that you will always remember. These can be family members or friends. For me, my first tragedy that has had an affect was the time when a class mate passed away.

Every tragedy has specific details that often outline what, who and where. The whole cohort was gathered in a meeting hall where our headmaster presented the news. Everyone was quiet aside from the sound of muffled tears throughout the hall. The sadness could be felt quite heavily. People gathered in their own groups to talk it out.

It was important because it would allow me to develop as a person and it would change how I viewed my class mates. Gregor, the class mate, passed away and caused grief throughout the school. We would no longer be able to see him and these events allowed me to develop. He was in everyone’s mind that day.

A tragedy always has an affect on other. It negatively affected the whole cohort because it caused everybody to be sad. It also caused anger in me because I though it was unfair how a young life could be taken away like that. These are just some of the effects.

Just like me, if you haven’t experienced a tragedy yet then you will eventually. They will affect you in a way you wouldn’t have been able to experience before it. So one day you will experience an event like this.

I am a grade 6, 7 and 8 middle school English language arts teacher at Wilton-Lyndeborough Cooperative Middle School. My co-teacher and I have purchased Grammar Fitness Levels 3 and 4 for the past 3 years. We have found it to be an excellent tool for increasing achievement in mechanics. The students love using the program, and the ability to challenge themselves.

The first class we used Grammar Fitness with are now sophomores. These students have come back to tell us how much they remember from the program and the skills they were able to transfer into their writing assignments. The interactive nature of the program made one of the least exciting aspects of language arts, one of the more inviting and challenging aspects for our students.

Our current students look forward to using the program in class. Total engagement, the instant feedback of complete explanations, and the chatter we hear when they get something wrong and say to a friend, “Did you know that?” They remember it the next time. Perfect, that is what we, as their teachers, want.

In fact, the best part for us is that we know when the unit is complete, they have mastered those skills. And unlike some other programs, they do remember what they learned. The silly “Awesome”, “Wow” and other pop ups when a test is finished makes them chuckle.

We also would like to thank your support staff. Your team has assisted with the set up of the program, and answered all our questions, and concerns with patience and kindness. This is another reason why we will continue to purchase your program in the future.

We realize companies usually only hear from people when there is a problem, we wanted to make sure you knew what high regard we have for your product and your personnel.

Colleges rely on Accuplacer test results to know if new students are ready for college level work. Providing practice for Accuplacer tests is important. There is no reason for students to take credit courses if they aren’t ready for the workload. Conversely, it is very expensive for students if they are needlessly placed in remedial courses.

Merit is ideal for helping students prepare for Accuplacer tests. Merit programs cover a large span of skill levels with content designed for older users. Students receive built-in hints and tips while they work and advance as they demonstrate readiness. All the while learner progress is automatically tracked in an easy-to-use management console.

There are many factors that go into the successful implementation of an educational software product, according to a recently published study. The study’s authors looked at the impact of state-of- the-art technology tools used in higher education classes.

They focused on the following issues:

1) Strategy. It is important to note that educators use the same educational software programs in a variety of ways. It is a mistake to think one strategy works for everyone. And, some strategies do not work at all, as shown in the next paragraph. Read More

Almost five million students in the United States public education system are English Language Learners (ELLs).

The percentage of ELLs graduating high school within four years trails other subgroups such as pupils from low-income families and students with disabilities.

Reaching all of America’s students includes meeting the needs of diverse learners that possess a wide variance in skills, backgrounds, cultures and family supports.

Supporting ELLs, and ultimately all students, involves multiple strategies, professional learning and environmental support. It also means providing next-gen and technological tools that can support language acquisition.

A new report from Getting Smart presents opinions from experienced ELL educators and thought leaders across the U.S. about existing tools and gaps in the field.

Merit Software’s programs for ELLs have a strong track record of effectiveness. Merit programs cover a variety of skills and a broad range of levels. Merit offers a clean, straightforward interface and as well as content that is suitable for older students.

The American education system needs to readjust its priorities and serve what Bill Gates, in a recent speech, called the “new majority.”

Who are the “new majority”? Students who

graduate from high school, but are unprepared for college

attend college, but do not receive a credential in six years

start their higher education after the age of 25 and who are the first in their family to go to college

Not only are more alternative education providers needed, says Gates, but “we also need to focus within the [education] system, and understand why technology doesn’t scale.”

Solutions, according to Gates, will emerge from a 3-pronged approach — effective personalized learning, building an evidence base of what works, and adoption of proven educational technologies.

Merit has been working on these issues for several years. Based on insights gleaned from working with K12 and college students, as well as instructors who use our software, we have learned of ways to improve how our content is created and used. As a result, we are about to launch two initiatives to help educate the “new majority.”

The first initiative is News Punch. News Punch is based on Paragraph Punch, a popular and widely used tool for teaching writing skills.

News Punch takes links to fun and fascinating news stories and provides guided writing prompts about them. The program helps students find evidence in texts and write about it.

New news-based writing prompts are to be released almost every week. Suggestions are welcome from users. Custom prompts can be created for any informational text or media.

Research from the Carnegie Foundation shows that writing about reading improves student reading comprehension.

News Punch is scalable: its built-in supports help students of a wide range of abilities participate in English Language Arts writing exercises.

News Punch activities can be used by both K12 and remedial college students, as well as non-U.S. learners who want to improve their English. Although further evidence is necessary, we believe work in News Punch can probably be used as a measure of college readiness.

The second initiative is syncing Merit Online programs with social media tools such as Facebook and Google Plus. This step has many potential benefits. For example, enhanced collaboration and discussion opportunities based on students’ writing.

According to a new report from the Brown Center on Educational Policy, states that have adopted Common Core standards are likely to see a de-emphasis in use of fiction materials and increased use of nonfiction materials in language classes. This is in accordance with the Common Core recommendations. NAEP test scores have been lower, and some educators have charged that this is a consequence of these changes and other Common Core recommendations.

Yet, states that have not implemented the Common Core standards have seen a similar depression of scores. The Brown Center report concludes that whatever is depressing NAEP scores is more general than the application of one set of standards or another.

The team at Merit talks to educators every day. It is clear that educators need to be smarter about how, and when, they choose to use interventions to improve test scores.

We have observed that schools rely too heavily on leveled reading programs to help students catch up to grade level. Despite wide use, there is little evidence to show leveled reading programs close large, long-term gaps in reading comprehension beyond those in early primary grades.

The increased use of nonfiction has coincided with advances in text simplification tools, Text simplification tools have made it easier than ever to create, and use, leveled texts in language classes.

It is understandable that a school would want to use adaptive reading technologies for struggling students as an intervention, or for short-term test prep. However, leveled texts should not be the driver of classroom instruction. Leveled texts strip a lot of the meaning out of the content. Students would be better served if there were another way that they could participate in classroom activities to promote comprehension.

This is why we created News Punch — a program that builds comprehension through writing about texts. The program combines links to fun and fascinating news stories with step-by-step, guided writing prompts. New topics are created and deployed at least 40 times a year.

Recent News Punch topics have covered the Flint water crisis, the race to build reusable rockets, and a public wall in Seattle covered in chewing gum. Input on which articles to use is welcomed from educators and students. The Merit team can create custom activities for schools for a modest fee.

Research has shown that when students write about reading, as well as read challenging texts, there is a strong correlation to improved reading comprehension.

While we are just launching News Punch now, the program has been in test mode for several months. Many educators have already used it with students and they love it. Please contact us if you would like to try News Punch now too.

According to the Barbara Bush Foundation, which has established a competition challenging teams of developers, educators, engineers, and innovators to create mobile literacy learning applications for adult learners, 36 million U.S. adults lack basic English literacy.

Low-literate adults have difficulty with such things as reading over-the-counter medicine labels, completing a job application, opening a bank account, and more. Studies show that improving adult literacy could save the country an estimated $230 billion in extra healthcare costs. Even a one percent rise in literacy skill scores can increase labor productivity by as much as 2.5 percent, boosting output by as much as $225 billion.

Existing programs provided by nonprofits and public agencies offer only direct, in-person services, often in a classrooms or small groups. These programs cannot meet the needs of the millions of low-literate adults in the United States.

Merit Software’s programs in adult literacy have a strong track record of effectiveness.

Merit programs cover a variety of skills and a broad range of levels. Plus, Merit offers a clean, straightforward interface and as well as content that is suitable for older students.

Educators are always interested in learning more about ways to intervene and assist with students. Here at Merit we receive many inquiries about our products from teachers who wish to find new ways to improve learning.

A recent message came from a teacher who is working with students in a newly developed general English course for first-year high school students who are not ready for the standard English 1 course in the district.

About half the students are ESL or on an individualized education program (IEP). The rest have tested over two grades behind in writing and grammar. They need lots of writing practice and intervention.

The first nine weeks of the course were spent on sentence writing and fluency, including work on simple, compound, and complex sentences, and transitions from one to another.

The second nine weeks built on the sentence writing work by focusing on strong paragraph writing.

The teacher turned to Merit’s Paragraph Punch, a program that takes students through the process of writing a basic paragraph. Online interactive exercises guide the students.

The program has an online tutor whom the students call “Lola.” Lola leads them step-by-step through the writing process.